Off The X Training Range, Rutherfordton, NC Nov 12-13, 2022

[Fred]

      The inaugural event at this location featured wonderful fall NC weather along with 5 attendees.

      The shooters showed up Sat morning and were promised 4 things: That they would find the event much different from what they expected, that they would enjoy it (if only in retrospect), that they would be glad they came, and that they would be reluctant to leave. (Based on the Sunday PM wrap-up, this last certainly seemed to be true).

       4 of our 5 shooters classed themselves as beginners; the sole male classed himself as "intermediate" - but he showed up shooting mostly "Rifleman" groups, altho not consistently. (Ball-and-Dummy revealed he had an intermittent "flinch" problem.)

        The marksmanship showed steady improvement over the weekend, despite dealing with non-conformal sling issues, and the shooters were well-grounded via the history - enough to know what every American should know about the First Day of the Revolutionary War: The answers to the Four Questions, as well as the answer to the Big Question: What IS the American Revolution?

        Despite this being a range-in-progress, the students were exposed to the concept of the Rifleman's Dance as well as the Rifleman's Trajectory, the Rifleman's Cadence, and IMC, the latter offering the usual challenges for new shooters. Fortunately the range owner was there to tell them something important about IMC: "Don't overthink it!" Good advice!

       The Rifleman's Dance was illustrated both at 130 yards (the current max range at this location) and at 25 meters.

       The next event at this location will be the second weekend in Dec, and it is hoped the original students will show up again, and each will bring one or more new students with them!